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2017 Forest River Cardinal Recalls & Complaints

3

open safety recalls on record

Serious

11 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.00 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious21V523000

Equipment:Recreational Vehicle/Trailer

Adhesive failure may cause the vent portion of the window to detach, raises the risk of a crash or injury.

Remedy & full details

Dealers will inspect the windows, and replace the vent if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 2, 2021. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-825-8600. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-1380.

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Coachmen Cross Country, 2015 Coachmen Encore, 2016-2020 Coachmen Mirada, 2018-2021 Coachmen Sportscoach, 2019-2021 Forest River Berkshire, 2011-2016 Forest River Blue Ridge, 2014-2019 Forest River Cardinal, 2014-2020 Forest River Cedar Creek, 2014-2021 Forest River Georgetown, 2019 Forest River Legacy, and 2017-2018 Forest River Riverstone recreational vehicles equipped with Hehr 6400 Series windows. The adhesive that bonds the vented portion of the window may fail.

Serious17V336000

Equipment:Other:Labels

The incorrect GAWR makes the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) label incorrect and may result in the vehicle being overloaded, affecting the vehicle control and raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will provide a new Federal Placard with the correct GAWR and a new CCC label, free of charge. The recall began on June 6, 2017. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-206-7600. Forest River's number for this recall is 15-05192017-0412.

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Cardinal recreational trailers, model CAF3250RL. The Federal Placard on these vehicles overstates the Gross Axle Weight Rating capacity (GAWR) by 840lbs. for each axle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of 49 CFR Part 567, "Certification."

Serious16V258000

Equipment:Other:Labels

If the operator inflates the tires to the PSI indicated on the label, the tires will be operated while being under-inflated causing pre-mature wear and a possible tire blow out, raises the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy & full details

Forest River will notify owners, and provide a new corrected Federal Placard, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin on, or about, June 23, 2016. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-574-206-7600. Forest River's number for this recall is 15-04172016-0179.

Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Cardinal recreational vehicles, models CAF3455RL, CAF3825FL and CAF3850RL, manufactured from November 20, 2015, through April 1, 2016. These vehicles may be equipped with a Federal Placard that indicates an incorrect tire and rim combination. The placard states the tire and rim combination is ST235/80R16 LRE Tires with 80 PSI and a rim designation of 16X6.00JJ, when the actual combination on the vehicle is LT235/85T16 LRG Tires with 110 PSI and a rim designation of 16X6.00HD. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Complaint volume

11 this model-year 7 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

0Crashes
0Fires
0Injuries
0Deaths

Across 11 complaints. Severity Index 0.00.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Tires3 · 27%Unknown Or Other2 · 18%Wheels2 · 18%Structure · Body1 · 9%Suspension1 · 9%Equipment1 · 9%Structure1 · 9%
  1. Tires — 3 reports
  2. Unknown Or Other — 2 reports
  3. Wheels — 2 reports
  4. Structure:Body — 1 reports
  5. Suspension — 1 reports
  6. Equipment — 1 reports
  7. Structure — 1 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

1998 (1) · 1999 (1) · 2000 (1) · 2001 (2) · 2002 (2) · 2003 (3) · 2004 (2) · 2005 (2) · 2006 (1) · 2009 (1) · 2010 · 2013 (2) · 2014 (4) · 2015 (1) · 2016 (4) · 2017 · 2019 (1) · 2020 (1) · 2021 (6) · 2023

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.